Zipper sewing attachment



Sept. 27, 1960 w. R. GRAY ZIPPER SEWING ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 15, 1957 r INVENTOR. Wilna [(9050 h g. 7/ ATTORNEY.

Sept. 27, 1960 w. R. GRAY 2,954,000

ZIPPER SEWING ATTACHMENT Filed Nov. 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet P.

INVENTOR. Wlmzfiaese 64 2 United States Patent ZIPPER SEWING ATTACHMENT Wilna Reese Gray, 259 Melwood St., Pittsburgh 13, Pa.,

assrgnor of one-half to Donald M. Miller, Esq., Indiana, Pa.

Filed Nov. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 696,735

3 Claims. (Cl. 112-2) This invention relates to a sewing machine attachment for facilitating sewing of a zipper to a garment, and, more particularly, it relates to a sewing machine attachment that may be applied not only to a commercial sewing machine but to a domestic sewing machine to enable the housewife to sew a zipper to a garment very easily and quickly.

An outstanding disadvantage of known types of sewing machine attachments for aiding attachment of a zipper to a garment is that they are relatively complicated in construction and thus expensive, moreover, it frequently happens that the needle of the sewing machine will strike the slider or latch and break, thereby causing a breakdown in the sewing operation. Furthermore, such attachments require altering the presser foot, feed dog, needle plate, needle bar, or some other part of the machine.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel sewing machine attachment which is devoid of the above named disadvantages and which will enable easy and quick sewing of a zipper to a garment on either a commercial or domestic type sewing machine.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a novel sewing machine attachment which can be attached to any of the conventional types of sewing machines, such as a single needle, domestic type machine, merely by the use of a single thumb screw for fastening the attachment to one of the standard screw holes for a cloth guide in the bed plate, which is present in all types of domestic machines.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sewing machine attachment which is adjustable in width and position and which enables easy turning and feeding of the zipper and garment, also which enables sewing around the entire perimeter of the tape of the zipper and which enables attachment of the zipper in a manner so as to be completely concealed from view when wearing.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of one of the parts of the attachment or zipper guide embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the other part of the attachment or zipper guide.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the part shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the part shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a top or plan view showing the two parts illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in superimposed relationship and attached to the bed plate of a single needle, domestic type sewing machine.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing how a zipper is fed angularly into the guide or attachment after placement on the bed plate of the machine and Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the zipper as it is being guided in the attachment and bent or curled on the forward right hand portion to prevent penetration of the slide or latch of the zipper by the needle.

Patented Sept. 27, 1960 Referring more particularly to the drawing, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are top views of the left and right guide parts, respectively, which form an attachment when in superimposed relationship, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. Referring to Fig. 1, numeral 4 denotes a plate or strip of sheet metal or other suitable material having an upwardly and inwardly extending flange 4a which serves to guide the left edge of the zipper tape. 42 is an upstanding flange portion to serve as a stop for abutting a corresponding upstanding flange 5d on the right hand attachment 5, shown in Fig. 2, whereby the parts are guided during relative sliding movement in a horizontal direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2.

An upwardly and outwardly extending flange 5a is provided on the right hand attachment 5 which serves as a guide and retainer for the right side edge of the Zipper tape. It will be noted that a portion of the top of flange 5a is cut away at 5b in order-to allow raising and curling or bending of the right side of the zipper tape, as will be described more fully hereafter.

The left and right parts of the attachment parts 4 and 5, are superimposed to form an attachment assembly by placing part 4 above part 5 while flange 4e rests against flange 5d, in the manner shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Thereafter, a thumb screw 3 is inserted through the registering slots 4c and 5c and screw threaded into one of the two conventional threaded holes for securing the cloth guide (not shown) which is found on practically all bed plates for domestic or commercial machines. On plate 1 is slidably mounted the conventional slide cover 2.

It will be particularly noted that flange 4a is tapered on one edge 4b at an angle of roughly 45 in order to facilitate introduction of a zipper strip at-an angle, vas will be more apparent from a study of Fig. 6.

It will be noted that in order to vary the spacing between the left guide flange 4a and the right guide flange 5a to accommodate zipper tapes of different widths, it is merely necessary to move part 4 to the right over plate 5, guided by flanges 4e and 5d, and tighten nut 3. The slots 40 and 50 remain in registry during such adjustment. The zipper guide attachment may be turned to any desired angle about nut 3 as a pivot.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 6, a zipper strip comprises a tape 9 having a zipper portion 10 and a slide 11.

The zipper tape is easily introduced into the attachment by virtue of the bevel shape 4b at the end of flange 4a, as shown in Fig. 6 and the zipper, after introduction, is guided by the flanges 4a and 5a, that is, flange 4a guides the left edge and flange 5a, the right edge of the zipper as it moves in the direction of the needle 7 and presser foot 6. It will be noted that the needle is positioned almost directly across the cut-away portion 5b and adjacent the edge of flange 5a. This cut-away portion 511 is for a very important reason, namely, to permit the fabric of the tape 9 to curl upwardly through cut-away portion 5b and allow zipper 10 to move to the left in the manner shown at 6a in Fig. 7 and beginning from the time the zipper tape being sewed approaches the needle so that the needle will avoid penetrating any metallic portion of the zipper, such as the slide 11 or associated parts.

More specifically, as the folded over cloth portions 12 and 13 are being sewed to the tape while the tape is guided by the guide attachment, the left edge portion of the slide 11 will bump against the right portion of the presser foot 6 and thus will be moved to the right towards flange 5a sufficiently to clear needle 7. And in so doing, the right portion 6a of the strip 6 will curl so as to allow this right hand movement to take place to prevent the needle from coming down on latch 11 and breaking as a consequence thereof. Thus it is possible to have the needle sew very closely to the zipper 10 without danger of breakage because of the latch or slide 11 of greater width. The needle will sew closely around the latch.

It will be noted that sewing may be done not only on both sides of the zipper but across one or both ends thereof so as to form a U or rectangular seam.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient attachment of very low cost for domestic or commercial sewing machines which will permit sewing of a zipper to a cloth without danger of breakage of the needle and permitting sewing close to the zipper and lateral movement of the zipper portion having the slide latch thereon by using the pressure foot as a stop; furthermore I have provided a zipper guide attachment which is adjustable to accommodate zipper tapes of different widths and which permits ease of introduction of the tape into the attachment and a variety of sewing operations, and which can be easily mastered by the ordinary housewife.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a single needle type sewing machine having a bedplate, needle and presser foot, a zipper guide attachment for guiding a zipper tape having a central zipper and slide, said attachment comprising two spaced opposing flanged elements which are adjustably movable laterally in parallel relationship toward or away from each other and which are laterally adjustably mounted on the bed plate so as to guide zipper tapes of varying width and to sew cloth thereto at selective distances from the zipper, said flanged elements comprising base portions having upwardly extending, zipper tape guiding flanges and top flanges extending toward each other along portions thereof in substantially the same horizontal plane, said presser foot being disposed in the path of the side edge portion of the slide of said zipper tape when sewing in either direction so that as the tape is longitudinally moved in said attachment, the slide will strike the presser foot, and will be moved laterally out of the path of the needle, one

.4 of said top flanges being cut away opposite said needle to allow said zipper tape to curl upwardly above the level of the top flange as a consequence of said lateral movement of the slide, therefore preventing the possibility of striking of the zipper or slide by said needle, whereby sewing of cloth along both sides of said zipper may be accomplished without the necessity of sliding said slide away from the needle, and even when the zipper and slide are concealed from view by the cloth to which the tape is sewed.

2. A zipper guide attachment for guiding a zipper tape having a central zipper slide in a single needle type sewing machine having a bedplate and presser foot, said attachment comprising two base plates having laterally extending registering slots through which a thumb screw may be inserted for adjustably fastening the attachment to a screw hole in said bedplate, said base plates having upwardly extending, parallel flanges for guiding the edges of a zipper tape as it is being sewed onto a cloth by said needle, said flanges terminating in top flanges extending toward each other in substantially the same horizontal plane, one of said top flanges having a cut out portion adjacent the needle to allow upward curling of the tape above the level thereof as an edge of the zipper slide strikes the presser foot and is moved laterally thereby when sewing the tape in one direction to a cloth, the other top flange terminating short of the presser foot to allow upward curling of the tape when sewing the tape in an opposite direction.

3. A zipper guide attachment as recited in claim 2 wherein both of said top flanges terminate in angular end edges which are longitudinally otfset and substantially at right angles to each other to permit introduction of the zipper tape angularly into said attachment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 620,418 Chatfield Feb. 28, 1899 663,908 Lasch Dec. 18, 1900 2,542,212 Schaad Feb. 20, 1951 

